Is this the end for Jamie and Claire in Season 3 of ‘Outlander?’

Fans of the Starz hit television series, “Outlander,” are left with heart-stopping questions after last weeks episode. Thus far in Season 3 of “Outlander,” Jamie and Claire have been reunited after spending 20 years apart. Their reunion was everything fans of the show had been waiting for but now fans are wondering if it will last? Let’s recap a bit of what has happened thus far in Season 3 to lead us to this point.

‘Outlander’ Season 3 recap

When Season 3 started, we found Claire living with her daughter, Brianna, and husband Frank in Boston. We see Claire’s life paralleled against Jamie’s life in Scotland, 200 years in the past.

While both their lives have been quite different they have also been the same in that each of them longs for the other. With the help of Brianna and historian Roger Wakefield, Claire discovers that Jamie is alive and working as a printer under the alias of Alexander Malcolm. Claire is now faced with the choice of leaving her and Jamie’s daughter behind to be reunited with her lover or stay and never see Jamie again. Brianna encourages her mother to travel back in time to be with Jamie and without much convincing Claire agrees to go. At this point, we’re all very eager for Claire to find Jamie and watch the reunion of the century. However, we don’t know a lot about Jamie’s current life and whether or not he’ll be excited to see Claire again. Claire arrives in 1765 Edinburgh, Scotland to find Jamie working at his print shop.

For my fellow book lovers, we were eagerly anticipating the moment they met again because once Claire calls his name and he turns to see her in the flesh, he faints on the floor, leaving her wondering if he’s happy or upset to see her again.

Of course, Jamie is happy to see Claire once again and they cement their reunion in a steamy bout of love scenes. Ironically though, those scenes take place in a brothel where Jamie is currently living. Jamie’s life definitely appears to be questionable at this point. We discover he’s printing seditious pamphlets secretly and also smuggling whiskey. Being that Jamie has always found himself in compromising positions this doesn’t shock Claire and she continues getting to know Jamie. Now, this is where things start getting interesting. Claire asks Jamie if he ever fell in love again and he replies, no. She asks him a multitude of ways if he has someone else in his life and he says, no. However, Fergus, who is all grown up now, keeps implying to Jamie that he should tell Claire about some secret they both share.

Jamie asks to send word to Ned Gowan, who is the family attorney, that matters need to be looked into immediately. These little details imply that Jamie might not be fully telling Claire the truth. Then we find out in last weeks episode that Jamie has a wife. Yes, you heard me correct, a wife and I don’t mean Claire.

Will Jamie & Claire’s love survive?

If you’ve read the book then you already know what lies ahead for Jamie and Claire. For the sake of those following along on the television series let’s discuss their fate further based on what we know so far. In next week’s preview, Claire and Jamie return to Lallybroch and appear to have a massive fight. Claire tries to leave after Jamie attempts to explain where his second wife comes into the picture. Next, we find Claire and Jamie on a cliff and the tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. Jamie mentions that she won’t even look at him and she replies that she’s not sure they belong together anymore. How could they have gone from not standing to be apart to now questioning their relationship?

It’s apparent that Jamie acquired another wife after Claire left him. Although we don’t know the exact history of his second wife, we do know she exists. The issue these two lovers face isn’t so much that Jamie is married again, but that he lied to Claire. Claire asked for the truth and returned to Jamie, knowing he may have moved on. Jamie has continued to assure her that he hasn’t and she was the only woman for him. If you recall, in last weeks episode, Claire and Jamie have a slightly heated discussion about him lying to his own family regarding his nephew. Claire is adamant that lying to your family on such a matter as his nephew’s whereabouts is unacceptable. Jamie has a different opinion altogether, believing there is nothing wrong with what he’s doing and that it’s justified. This scene definitely sets the pace for what is coming in the next episode. What we all want to know is, whether or not their love is strong enough to endure this revelation? As of right now, it doesn’t look good for these two, but they’ve been in tough spots before and made it through, so we’ll see what happens next.